Another ‘True Blood’ record boosts ‘Hung,’ ‘Entourage’ ratings

“True Blood” set another audience record on Sunday (July 12) night, helping boost the ratings for the second week of “Hung” and the latest series premiere of “Entourage.”

The season’s fourth “True Blood” episode pulled in 3.9 million for its first Sunday airing, a new series high, up from the 3.7 million who watched the season’s first and third episodes.

When you factor in encore airings, HBO On Demand and DVR viewership, “True Blood” is still averaging 10.8 million viewers per week, up 39 percent over last season’s average.

Despite taking a week off between its premiere and its second episode — or perhaps because of the myriad opportunities for reairings — “Hung” was up 29 percent from its series premiere, drawing 3.6 million viewers, holding 93 percent of its “True Blood” lead-in.

HBO says that the gross audience for the “Hung” premiere (factoring in the same secondary airings as “True Blood”) was 9.1 million viewers.

With “True Blood” and “Hung” providing a stellar base, the sixth season launch of “Entourage” averaged 3.4 million viewers. That represents the show’s largest audience since May 6, 2007, an episode that aired after a new “Sopranos.” It was also a whopping 109 percent up from last season’s premiere.